Marked
by sakuratyan
Summary: Kakashi spent his life as a shinobi, and left the world marked with his tale. Oneshot. Semi-stream-of-consciousness writing.


**A/N:** Not so sure about the chronology/age-stuff in the beginning, although I'm just making an educated guess about when the Nine-Tails attacks the village (Kakashi's age pre-Shippuden minus Naruto's age pre-Shippuden) and then totally just winging it on the rest.

Warning: it goes from normal-esque writing to stream-of-consciousness.

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_**Marked**_

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Age five. The son and spitting image of the renowned White Fang of Konoha, Kakashi Hatake, enters the ninja academy. The young prodigy proves to be an exemplary student and shows a commendable talent in the ninja arts. Later that year, he graduates from the ninja academy at the top of his class and becomes a genin.

Age six. The young Kakashi is promoted to the shinobi rank of chuunin, and becomes one of the youngest chuunin in Konoha's history. Despite his own success as a shinobi prodigy, he still looks up to his father, Sakumo, more than anything. He only ever dreams of being as great a ninja as his father was.

Age thirteen. The Third Shinobi World War continues, Kakashi becomes a jounin, and no longer looks up to his father. His father isn't there for Kakashi to look up to anymore. The young man is left alone as Sakumo commits suicide, bringing him to resent Sakumo and forego his father's way of life to strictly follow the ninja code. Meanwhile, he develops a new technique that puts his lightning abilities to use: the Chidori. While on a mission to assist Konoha's war efforts, his team's teamwork is in pieces as he undergoes a slight rivalry with his teammate, Obito: an excuse-filled Uchiha that is the complete opposite of Kakashi. But their rivalry ends as Obito reminds Kakashi that his father really was a hero, and that "those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." Soon later, Obito offers his Sharingan to Kakashi as a gift and it helps him perfect his Chidori. Although while the gift will later earn him a title in the shinobi world, it came at the cost of having to watch his best friend die.

Age fourteen. Through the war, he earns a title worthy of a man who has copied over a thousand techniques: Copy Ninja Kakashi. The Shinobi World War ends, but the fighting still continues on. A threat is made on Konoha as the Nine Tailed Fox is released from its jinchuuriki and angrily attacks the village. He and the other youth shinobi are not permitted to fight, no matter how much they protest. But it all ends soon, taking only a few hours to be there and gone. It isn't until the next day that Kakashi finds out his mentor, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, along with his wife, Kushina Uzumaki, died while protecting the village from potential war. He feels proud that his mentor died in a heroic way (just like his father), but he feels lonely now that he had officially lost everybody that was close to him.

Age sixteen. Now that Kakashi had no official team to go back to, he decides to join the ranks of the ANBU. He gains a new mark on his shoulder, a spiral tattoo that signifies his placement into the ANBU Black Ops. It pains him to know that he is now marked, just like the rest of them. He's marked for the rest of his life as property of the Hokage and now he can't turn back and he will forever be an ANBU member whether he is literally in the organization or not. But he deals with it, just like the rest of them. He makes new friends and creates ties within the organization despite the fact that he is of a completely different skill than most of them. He sees potential in a young man named Tenzou, his junior. But he grimaces at the sight of his tattoo, which they are required to wear proudly.

Age twenty. Kakashi continues to hate the idea of being marked as property and resents his admission into ANBU. His ties with other shinobi stand strong. He decides he has had too many near-death experiences and does not want to risk it anymore so he leaves the organization and returns as a jounin leader. He is assigned a genin team and immediately sees great potential in them. Despite that, he fails them and refuses to be their teacher.

Age twenty-one. Kakashi is assigned another team. The Third Hokage hopes he has better luck with this one, but he doesn't. The team is just the same as the last one. He feels like their good talents have gone to waste. What a shame, he thinks. They were such a good group of kids.

Age twenty-two. Kakashi is assigned yet another team. Sarutobi hopes for the best once again but he is let down once more. Kakashi leans against a tree and refuses to teach a self-centered brat, a hot-headed idiot, and a conceited little priss who won't work together. They all curse him out simultaneously and Kakashi wonders why they just couldn't work in harmony any other time. He gives up on trying to teach selfish kids and returns to being a normal jounin leader. He hopes that the other teachers are having better luck than him and that not every ninja in the next generation is like the students he's been assigned. And with nothing to really think about, he begins to visit the stone memorial and unknowingly develops the habits of his late best friend—the very habits that he used to hate and complain about.

Age twenty-five. He celebrates his birthday by telling the Hokage he is ready to try teaching another team, and that he would try his hardest to find the best in them and not fail another team. The Third is compliant and agrees, telling him that he will be assigned a group as soon as the students graduate. The promise is kept when Hiruzen tells Kakashi that he will be leading the team for the last surviving Uchiha in, the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki, and a girl he had never heard of but who has been said to show great potential. Interesting, he says. The day to meet his team comes and he makes sure to wear as much as possible to conceal his scars and marks and the tattoo on his shoulder. He realizes that he should give these kids a little bit of a chance. He quickly pulls down the sleeve of his shirt and looks away from the mirror when he is reminded, once again, that he is marked. He felt like he shouldn't let it show that he had been marked as property. Kakashi barely likes knowing that himself.

Age twenty-five and a half. Kakashi's team passed the test and learned the trick to the bell exercise. Smart kids, he knew. They all needed to work out their personality differences but he was at least glad they were able to work together when push came to shove. That definitely set them apart from the other teams he'd tried to teach. He saw real potential with them, more potential than his past students, so he decides to continue being their teacher. And for the first time, they are sent on a real mission. Not just chasing cats around the village or walking dogs, but a real mission with real threats and real fighting. He is surprised to find out that their C-rank mission should have actually been an A-rank and tries his hardest to make sure that those kids make it back home alive and well. He hates knowing that they are potentially seconds away from death and refuses to take out his ultimate secret until the infamous swordsman Zabuza Momochi shows up. His Sharingan is revealed for the first time to his team, leaving the young Uchiha of the group confused. But he doesn't care, because he just wants to keep them safe. He panics when he lifts up his forehead protector and his fingers run against his scar, because it reminds him that he is marked. Not by the ANBU and the Hokage but by his memories and the trauma of losing his first best friend. He continues his technique, though. He can't let those kids die. And it hurts him so much when he almost loses two of them. The boys couldn't let go of their impulses long enough to actually think sensibly. He thanks the world and his life and everything when he finds out that they are both alive but he refuses to show his relief to fuel his pride. And when they make it back to the village safely, he goes home and takes a shower and thanks Obito for giving him the eye that saved them.

Age twenty-six. Kakashi had officially survived a year with his team. But the next year showed no promise when the chuunin exams took a turn for the worst and broke his team apart. It didn't help one bit that the Third Hokage had been a casualty in the process. He became wildly upset the moment he got home after he found out about Sasuke leaving to go to Orochimaru. But in the presence of others, he stayed strong. He tried to be there for his team but they didn't want his help. He felt alone when Naruto left with Jiraiya to train and even more so when Sakura refused his comfort and asked Tsunade to be his mentor. He decided to spend the next few years mastering new techniques and filling a void in his life.

Age thirty. Kakashi got his team back (for the most part) the year before and spent that year making sure he was there for them and being their teacher again... or trying. The Fifth Hokage decided to add two new members of the group. But he didn't get much time with them before the Akatsuki struck. He fought for them as much as he could and stuck with his father's way until the end. He dies and his soul leaves his body and all he can think about is his team and how he couldn't always protect them. His old teammate, Rin, comes to mind. And Obito. And then Minato, even though he couldn't do a thing about that. Then his old ANBU squad. And now, Team Kakashi. God, he wished he could go back and protect them all. He wished he didn't have to die. He feels his shoulder and winces as he traces over the swirled design with his fingers. He feels the left side of his face and recoils as he recalls the story behind that accident and what it ultimately led to. He feels over all the other scars he remembered he had and sighs over the results of his life. He didn't die a failure to others; he died a failure to himself. He failed to protect the ones he cared about the most. He couldn't save Sakumo from his depression and couldn't stop his father from committing suicide. He couldn't save Obito from those falling rocks. He couldn't protect Rin from being kidnapped and killed. He couldn't protect the Fourth from the wrath of the Nine Tails. He wasn't able to stop Sasuke from leaving Konoha. And who even knew what happened to Naruto and Sasuke and Tenzou and even Sai in the midst of the war that waged on? All of his scars only reminded him that he was marked. He was property. He wasn't just Kakashi Hatake, he was Kakashi Hatake of Konohagakure. His duty was to the village. His marks were the constant reminder for that. And nothing would ever change that, no matter how much he wished.


End file.
